Robot-driven electric vans traveling from Italy to China

Shanghai, July 23 (Gasgoo.com) Two robot-driven electric vans developed by Italian engineers were launched earlier this week on an 13,000 kilometer (8,000-mile) journey from Italy to China to demonstrate vehicle autonomy using a solar-powered robot driver, media reported.

The bright orange vans will travel from Rome to Shanghai over three months, and will navigate Moscow streets of Russia. They use cameras and laser sensors to figure out where to go. For safety reasons, there is someone sitting in the car's back seat to take over driving if the vehicle malfunctions.

Developed by a team at Vislab, a spin-off company from the University of Parma, the vehicles run on electric power, covering 60 to 100 miles a day at about 40 mph. The vehicles charge overnight. The large solar panel on the roof can power the vast array of control systems, including laser scanners, cameras, and GPS units.

If successful, the robot driver technology could lead to driverless trucks in ten years and driverless cars 20 years, say Italian researchers. Some of the technology developed from the road trip to China could go into self-driving farming and mining vehicles.

According to schedule, the two driverless vehicles should arrive in Shanghai by the end of October. Their convoy team traveling to China is composed of roughly 30 people among technicians and engineers working for the Parma VisLab.